All candidates for the M.A. degree in history must demonstrate competency in one foreign
language. Exceptions are granted for students enrolled in the Concentration in History
Education program, for whom no foreign language is required. Students whose primary
field is U.S. history may take an additional two graduate classes in lieu of the language
requirement, if they cannot, or do not wish to, meet the language requirement. The
two additional courses must be graduate, or 200 level classes.

The language competency requirement may be met in four ways:

Through an examination by a history faculty member with expertise in your language.
The exam will be a translation of about 500 words to be completed in two hours with
a dictionary allowed.

By taking two full years of a foreign language at a university or junior college.
An average grade of C must have been attained, and the course work completed within
five years of admission to the university.

If your primary concentration is European or World History with a focus on the Ancient
and/or Medieval period(s), you may also fulfill this requirement by taking one year
of Greek and one year of Latin.

By taking and passing the Educational Testing Service Graduate Foreign Language Exam.

For further details please obtain the handout “Regulations Governing the Fulfilling
of the Language (or Research) Requirement in the History M.A. Program” from the History
Department office.